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We have been traveling for many years until Covid, using the same luggage.

We now find that even though we easily meet the weight restrictions for checked baggage, and we are splurging on First Class for the first time, one of our normally to be checked bags, and both of our carry on bags are each ONE INCH too many linear inches as per the requirement of now counting each bag’s wheels, on American, Delta and Alaska airlines, the three US carriers we will be flying to Santiago, Chile and back from Buenos Aires in early 2023 for a lengthy cruise.

For those of you who have already resumed post Covid travel, do we really need to buy new luggage because of 3 extra inches?

If one tests positive and cannot get on a plane back to the USA that person will need to go into quarantine in a hotel.  I assume that one’s travel insurance will cover the hotel, meals and medical costs, but what responsibility does the cruise line have?  Will they assist with rescheduling flights?  Airport transfers?  Finding a hotel?

Does the travel insurance have a cap on the price of a hotel room?

What an Easter present. Just notified by our credit card bank today via email that Uniworld’s having double charged our credit card for the cruise, pre and post cruise extensions and airfare thereby causing our card to be frozen because its credit limit had been exceeded for the first time in 50 years, caused our credit rating to drop 78 points!

The double charge was removed, but severe damage was done. What do you all think Uniworld should do to make us whole?

I think which customer service rep you get makes a huge difference. After posting this this morning, I called customer service and waited on hold for a half hour, but got to speak with “Cindy” who reminded us why we like Uniworld so much. She answered all our questions, and, more importantly, her answers were consistent with what we learned with our own research. When she did not know the answer to something, she said she did not know, and looked it up, unlike previous staff who simply said whatever they felt would pacify us.

Just wanted to update everyone. The duplicate charge was FINALLY removed yesterday….after nearly a week!

I am still upset because credit ratings are very important, and I never had a card refused before. If you are reading Uniworld threads, and are a client of theirs, you know how expensive their cruises are, especially when you have also booked your airfare and pre and post cruise extensions with them, so it never occurred to me that I would need to up the limit on my credit card to cover a double billing.

Roz, I am a retired credit card bank lawyer. There really isn’t anything YOUR bank can do about a “pending” charge. I did immediately pay the outstanding balance for April, but that still did not reduce the outstanding and pending charges enough to prevent the automated refusals of monthly donations. 

On the Facebook Uniworld group, there is some discussion about Uniworld, Viking and other tour providers in this class simply not providing the level of service we are accustomed to from them due to the effects of mass employee turnover these last two years.

Uniworld no longer provides the pre trip documents, luggage tags, etc. they used to provide. I understand these companies must all be hurting financially, but without the exceptional experience we grew to love preCovid which was based primarily on the total release from stress knowing your holiday was in conscientious, caring hands, I am not sure the difference in fees make this class of cruise worthwhile.

For example, we need to change planes in Paris for Marseille. I was told the hotel in which we were booked in Marseille was “attached” to the airport and an easy walk. In researching the hotel, however, I discovered that one needed to board a shuttle and it was a 10 minute drive. My husband will be 80 in a few months. Do they seriously expect us to lift heavy suitcases onto a shuttle? Will there be a Uniworld rep at the hotel to get us to the ship? No information has been provided,

and this is not the stress free experience we had on our last Uniworld cruise.

We have taken over 20 cruises on various cruise lines and determined that we were willing to spend the extra money to cruise with Uniworld. Everything about our preCovid Danube river cruise was perfect, to our taste and far exceeded our expectations.

So now that it is again possible to travel, we booked a cruise with Uniworld thru Province and Burgundy……according to their records, twice! They double charged our credit card, admit it was an error, verbally, but with two very large charges, our credit limit has been exceeded on, of all things, our COSTCO Visa, and Uniworld is unwilling to do anything about it…..saying, it “should” be resolved in about 30 days.

Since our bank froze this card, we have been receiving email from charities and vendors we authorize to charge our card each month telling us their monthly debit had been denied. We are further concerned about what this may do to our previously almost perfect credit rating.

Has anyone else encountered this kind of problem?

We have taken over 20 cruises on various cruise lines and determined that we were willing to spend the extra money to cruise with Uniworld. Everything about our preCovid Danube river cruise was perfect, to our taste and far exceeded our expectations.

So now that it is again possible to travel, we booked a cruise with Uniworld thru Province and Burgundy……according to their records, twice! They double charged our credit card, admit it was an error, verbally, but with two very large charges, our credit limit has been exceeded on, of all things, our COSTCO Visa, and Uniworld is unwilling to do anything about it…..saying, it “should” be resolved in about 30 days.

Since our bank froze this card, we have been receiving email from charities and vendors we authorize to charge our card each month telling us their monthly debit had been denied. We are further concerned about what this may do to our previously almost perfect credit rating.

Has anyone else encountered this kind of problem?

Here is what we decided to do, based on reading everything we could find both from HAL and other insurers: We purchased a full policy, that did NOT EXCLUDE preexisting conditions, but NOT INCLUDE cancel for any reason coverage from Travel Guard AND also purchased HAL’s platinum plan that includes the cancel for ANY reason coverage. We are in our 70’s and the two policies, for our 18 days (including pre and post cruise packages) cost us about $1,000. This was nearly $400 less than purchasing a full cancel for any reason policy WITH no preexisting condition exclusion from any other vendor.

My fear was that HAL’s platinum plan may not cover preexisting conditions once the journey has begun, and should one need transport from the Antarctic Ocean, it would cost more than the $50,000 max. So buying the less expensive Travel Guard plan covering preexisting conditions AND higher coverage for illnesses, lost luggage, trip interruption, etc. plus the cancel for any reason coverage of the HAL plan, I believe gives us maximum, complete coverage.

I am booked on a HAL cruise in December, am a retired attorney, and am going nuts trying to figure out HAL’s platinum insurance policy. 

I never practiced anything remotely connected to insurance law, but heck...I should be able to read and understand a policy? 

My best guess is that even the platinum policy is a trip cancellation policy, and provides very little in the way of coverage for any medical occurrence once you have actually begun your trip.

They say on their website that they cover you for preexisting conditions, but that seems to relate to pretrip cancellation, not to coverage during the cruise. There the language is more ambiguous. It say you are covered for “sickness” that begins on your trip...or something to that effect. Does that mean if you have a heart condition, but it is  medically under control, but later have a heart attack on board, you are not covered? 

Darn if I know. Based on the language in the policy and on the HAL website, I could argue this both ways.

We used to sail with HAL and Celebrity, but in recent years, have really enjoyed the premium lines, like Viking and Uniworld. 

What we hate above all else else is being nickeled and dimed to death. Even though the premium lines like the two mentioned and Seaborne sound expensive at first, when you consider that the prices include gratuities, shore excursions, most alcoholic beverages, and often air fare and transfers, if you do the math, they are really less expensive than HAL and Celebrity.

We have just booked a HAL cruise and are shocked by the cost of all the add ons. We never would have booked this cruise if the others fulfilled our bucket list wishes at the times of the year we are able to cruise.

If, however, you are a traveler who prefers nightclub like entertainment and dancing to lectures and local, cultural performances, or loves casinos, those premium lines are probably not for you.

Hence, you do get mostly a different kind of passenger, not because of wealth disparities, but because of personal taste. I cannot recall anyone wearing a suit or cocktail dress on Viking or Uniworld. 

I laughed myself silly looking at the beverage packages on the HAL website. I could not consume that much alcohol in a year! And on Viking and Uniworld, where most liquor is included, I have yet to see a single passenger who appeared to be intoxicated.

So my advice is to sail on the cruise line that provides the kind of atmosphere and activities you most enjoy and not really worry about the relative costs because they really do come out pretty much the same.

Tampa girl.....if there is a way for us to communicate via email, I would be happy to go back to the HA site and tell you, or email you a ULR, on the various beverage packages.....There were MANY wine packages, even single bottle offers! and we are on the same ship, slightly different voyage, yours right after mine.

OK, Here is how you find it, Tampa Girl. Go to the HA website, then Already Booked, then Manage My Booking. You will be asked for your email address and password. When you put that in,  it should say “Welcome and your name”.  There may be a necessity to go to something called “Before you go.” or the Before you Go screen may just show up. Then, down the left side of your screen, there is a list of things to do, before you go. One of them is “Beverage packages”

Let me know if this worked. It is a really long list of beverage packages, and towards the end are wine and champagne packages. They even have beer packages!

Thank you, Moriah. I am having some difficulty navigating the Holland America website. I did find the answer to Tampa Girl’s question, because when I went to “already booked” there was a tab for at least 50 different beverage packages.

What I cannot find, and hoping someone can help me, is a list of what kinds of things are included in the price of your cruise and what things require additional payment. For example, on our upcoming cruise, we have many days at sea. Is there a self service laundry? or must one pay to have laundry done? This is particularly important to me as I am allergic to fabric softener and scented detergents, so would prefer to do my own, regardless of cost.

I am also not much of a drinker, and cannot figure out if my favorite beverage, iced tea, is available free of charge. Is non carbonated water free? in containers one may take on excursions? Can one simply purchase a bottle of wine and use it over several days? May one drink the free bottle one is allowed to bring on board in the dining room, or only in one’s stateroom? What is available via room service? Is room service available at all hours?

Are there bridge games on board?

If anyone can provide some insight into how to better navigate the website it would be much appreciated.

I assume that OBC means on board credit? If so, how does one acquire them?

This is a very important thread. But I fail to understand the hostility being directed at the original poster. 

I am an an experienced cruiser and a retired attorney. I just got off the phone with a HA agent who we have used before and find to be very helpful on most issues, but when I asked about insurance, she was not particularly knowledgeable. 

Had we purchased the HAL insurance she recommended, we could have found ourselves in the same situation as the OP.

I strongly urge travelers to buy their trip insurance separately from any package offered. Insuremytrip.com, as someone else mentioned, is an excellent way to compare provisions. Know that if you are an older person, every insurance company will deem anything relating to your health to be a preexisting condition, so make sure you purchase insurance as soon as possible, at least within 10 days of making your initial deposit.

And people, please be kind.

Hey bennybear....we are in our 70’s and have traveled a lot. Fortunate that Japan, South America 😉 was one of only three places left on our bucket list! Thanx for the belly laugh.

Good News. Holland America allowed us to pay the difference between a 12 day cruise and a 14 day cruise, so we are off to South Americain December just as we hoped.

MAVIP.....you are my new favorite person on Cruise Critic. Thank you for both of your posts, recognizing, unlike caribill, that we know we should have done more research before bidding and are not blaming anyone other than ourselves, and your great suggestions. I think we will book the 10 day cruise. We have never been to Dubrovnik, but have already spent a lot of time in Turkey, and Ephesus is a sight to behold, a trip we highly recommend. We would love to return to Turkey, too, but living in the Pacific Northwest, my tomatoes ripen in the beginning of October and I cannot travel then!

To the others: Thank you for your suggestions, but the certificate we won is pretty clear that while we may pay to upgrade our cabin, we may not apply our certificate to a longer cruise. However, we will ask, because I really want to go to Japan!

Cruiser Bruce....the fine print IS the problem. It says we cannot apply the certificate we won for a 12 day cruise to a longer cruise.

The certificate does allow you to pay for a cabin upgrade, but not any more days, and all of the cruises offered in which we are interested are for more than 12 days.

This is not Holland America’s fault or the charity’s fault. It is our own fault. We did not realize that the places we want to visit require a cruise longer than 12 days.

I was just hoping someone here, with more HA experience than our two cruises with them, might have a suggestion for a shorter cruise that they particularly enjoyed.

We will call them this morning. Thank you.

I hope someone from Holland America reads these threads. We are Mariner members who had the successful bid at a charitable auction for a 12 day cruise on Holland America any time and anywhere except Alaska and over Christmas or New Year’s. THANK YOU Holland America for your very generous donation to our favorite charity.

We have a problem, however...a nice problem to have, but nevertheless a problem. We are older, retired and have had the good fortune to be well traveled. We are avid gardeners, so never travel between April and mid October. Our problem is that we cannot find a single Holland America cruise to some place or places we have never been for 11 or 12 days between November and March! 

We would love to travel to Japan, Korea, or anywhere in South America or the Greek Islands, but we cannot seem to find a cruise for which we can use our certificate. 

Does anyone have a suggestion, please? Thank you.

In 40 years of cruising, I have never heard of such a thing. A friend of mine had a husband who had been quite ill, off and on, for many years. They purchased a 7 day cruise from California to Mexico, I believe scheduled for early April. Last week, her husband died very suddenly, but not from the chronic condition he had. Her travel insurance will not reimburse her because of prexisting condion, even tho that condition is not what he died from, and Holland America will not refund even her husband’s portion of the fare. 

IMHO, this is unconscionable, and my husband and I will never cruise with Holland America again.

We have cruised with both Viking and Uniworld and would choose Uniworld for all the reasons others have mentioned. We never paid for any excursions, and their crews are incomparable, even though, unlike Viking, they are not working for tips as all gratuities are included. We found that the majority of the staff are employees of many years standing on Uniworld cruises, and have truly mastered the art of taking care of their visitors.

Furthermore, we had serious problems with the “package “ we purchased from Viking for a Mekong river cruise in 2016. Their agent was confused by the International Date Line, got it backwards, and scheduled our air travel to have us arriving in Vietnam an hour before sailing when we had paid to arrive two days before sailing. He then tried to get us to forgo those two days of hotel, tours and meals we had paid for.

When we complained, we were treated as “difficult customers” and though they did finally rearrange the air travel, they booked us on 4 flights coming and going, some requiring us to sit in an empty airport all night. And we live on the west coast! 

We would NEVER travel with Viking again. And we are older, very experienced travelers,  this was probably our 20th cruise, and we NEVER before were subjected to the uncaring, shift the blame to the customer treatment we experienced with Viking. If you choose Viking, book your own air! 

What is your plan B? 

We were here on the Maria Theresa last year. Lovely ship and wonderful crew.

We are supposed to board River Duchess Friday, but I am sick!

53 minutes ago, Flamencacha said:

Hey on the Danube down stream.  They wouldn’t let me on board but she appears to be down stream from Linz,  she rafted with us on the Panorama. 

Thank you...but what does “rafted with us on the Panorama” mean?

Thank you both. At the moment I am sick. We are all packed and ready to go if I am well enough, but did notify travel insurer and our travel agent just in case! For some crazy reason, to avail oneself of travel insurance, you must give them the notice required in your insurance documentation...not the short summary, but the whole 40+ page policy!

I really appreciate the research both of you have done on our behalf as it helps a little with the stress. We did Budapest to Passau last November and enjoyed it so much we wanted to do it again.

Thank you

Has anyone seen or heard anything from or about Uniworld? We are supposed to board the River Duchess in Budapest November 9 and head norther the evening of November 10.